


Like A Bad Romance Movie

by Roselightfairy



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:41:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27134710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roselightfairy/pseuds/Roselightfairy
Summary: Modern AU.  Finn wonders when Poe will make a move.  Rey plays wingwoman.(ABANDONED)
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8
Collections: Good Intentions: Abandoned and Unfinished WIPs





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As the moderator of the Good Intentions WIP Fest, I would be remiss not to release some WIPs of my own. This is the first one – a story I started and quickly lost steam for in December 2016 during my very short-lived Finn/Poe phase. (I still love them as a pairing, but the fandom didn’t hit me THAT hard.) I had all sorts of plans for how this AU would go, so the second chapter will be extremely patchy with my placeholder descriptions of what thoughts I had and what words I was going to fill in. I’m going to take the risk and post it as is for you anyway, because it turns out I don’t even have the energy to fill in my capslock placeholders.
> 
> The first chapter could probably - and initially was meant to - feel like a finished oneshot on its own. So if you want, feel free to only read this first chapter and not try diving into the second . . . but if you do, be warned that it devolves into scattered notes. :)
> 
> This story will likely never, ever be finished – and I’m happy to chat with you in the comments about it, but it’s been so long since I wrote it that I don’t even know if I’ll remember much about it anyway. Still, I will release it into the world in the hopes that you might glean at least a little bit of enjoyment from it.

Poe’s arm is very distracting.

It’s draped over the back of Finn’s seat, resting so close to his shoulders and neck that he can practically feel the blood pulsing through it, but it’s not touching him. And because of this, a much larger portion of his brainpower is going to the barely-there distance between him and Poe’s arm than is paying attention to the movie.

His own pulse is working in hyperdrive, heart actually _thunk_ ing in his ears, breath cold in his chest. Nerves on edge, he can feel every minute movement of Poe’s body; when he shifts his shoulder slightly and Finn thinks his arm is going to move – but it doesn’t. It just stays there, holding this too-close position where Finn feels like he would be able to feel the hairs on Poe’s arms if he weren’t wearing long sleeves.

On the screen, there is an action scene going on: lots of flashing lights and explosion sounds. Finn, though, is occupied wondering if he should move _himself_. If Poe’s arm is waiting there for him to make the second move and bridge the distance between them, to shift backwards just a hair so that Poe’s arm is touching him –

But he can’t. Paralyzed with fear, with the inability to make that move himself, and then he starts to rationalize it: maybe Poe just likes having his arm up there; Finn has definitely draped his own arm down behind the back of a seat just because it’s comfortable – and even though that’s probably not the case, his own fear holds him hostage, and his body just stays rigid, locked exactly where it is.

By the end of the movie, his muscles are sore.

* * *

“Some movie, huh?” says Poe after, grinning.

Finn doesn’t know how to read that smile. Does Poe know what he was thinking? Is he teasing him? Or is that just his usual rakish grin, sparkling eyes, and Finn is just being paranoid?

“Right,” is what he replies, noncommittal, safe. Kind of stupid-sounding, true, and he prays Poe won’t try to say anything about what exactly was happening in said movie, but . . .

Thankfully, he doesn’t. Finn is inclined to wonder if Poe, too, spent the entire movie thinking about his arm stretched out behind Finn’s back, rather than what was going on onscreen. He kind of hopes so, but he doesn’t know how to ask, and Poe doesn’t give him any indication. “Well,” is all he says, “thanks for coming with me.”

He has this thing where he likes to put his face right up close to yours when talking, brown eyes hooking onto yours and holding you there. It makes Finn’s breath catch, and Poe leans even closer, hands clamping onto his upper arms to tug him into a warm hug, and –

And that’s it. A few seconds later Poe is pulling away, and Finn’s arms fall limply to his sides. “Good night,” Poe says, with that smile again, and he turns to walk away, waves over his shoulder at Finn, and Finn just stares at him and wonders exactly how this night managed to end so anticlimactically.

* * *

“He definitely likes you,” Rey declares later, lounging across the couch with her legs in his lap. Because she’s a stellar roommate, and Finn was admittedly a total wreck earlier, she prepared for a catastrophe with the tub of butter pecan ice cream that she and Finn are now tucking into with gusto.

“You think so?” Finn hates the pathetic note in his voice, but if he can’t be insecure around Rey, who _can_ he trust with this stuff?

She flaps a hand. “Oh, absolutely.”

“Then why didn’t he make a move?” Definitely whining now, but whatever.

“He did make a move, you dimwit!” Rey jabs his thigh with her heel. “That was obviously his move, and he was waiting for you! And he was the one who invited you in the first place. Finn.” Her voice turns serious. “The boy has been massively into you since you _met_ him, and he’s dropping hint after hint. Pick them _up_ , for God’s sake!”

“But” –

Finn’s not even really sure what he’s going to say, but it doesn’t end up mattering, because he doesn’t get the chance to finish. Rey swings her legs off of his and sits up in one fluid motion, leaning forward. One hand clamps onto his wrist, stopping him from taking a distraction-bite of ice cream; the other catches hold of his chin and urges it around so he can’t turn his gaze away from her. “Finn,” she says. “The man is suffering. The ball’s in your court, okay? You have to make a move this time.”

He has the sinking suspicion that maybe she’s right. “You think so?” he asks again, just to be sure.

Rey loves him, he knows; she gives him a lot of slack, but now her eyes are doing the dangerous darkening thing, mouth going just a little tighter, and he flinches. “Okay, okay!” he says, pulling his hand out of her grasp to lift them both – the spoon flicks a little ice cream across the room, but they ignore it – into the air. “I’ll do it.” Even though the words are terrifying, something inside him settles, exhales, once he’s made the decision. “I promise.”

* * *

He makes the decision that he’ll call Poe the next day, will ask him out for real this time, or will at least arrange to meet up, but as it turns out, he doesn’t even need to.

Rey gets up way earlier than he does to do her whole training routine, which includes a bunch of mystical-looking motions and meditation and all sorts of things that look really badass on her, but freak Finn out a little. (He’ll take the weights in the gym any day.) But she’s always hungry when she finishes, and Finn’s just waking up, so every now and then they’ll walk to Starbucks together for coffee and/or pastries. Today is one of those days.

They’re chatting and walking; she’s bad-mouthing her martial arts trainer, Luke, for these new exercises she has to learn, and he’s munching the last few bites of his scone, when there’s a high-pitched barking and he almost trips over the tiny dog that streaks in front of him to run right up to Rey.

“BB!” she says ecstatically, managing to fall to her knees to stroke the dog’s head without even spilling her drink ( _despite_ the fact that it’s not even lidded; how is she so graceful?). BB loves Rey; has always loved her more than she loves Finn, but Finn can’t spare any time to be resentful of that because he’s too busy staring into the eyes of BB’s owner.

“Hey,” Poe says, enthusiastic smile turned a little shy.

“Hey,” Finn croaks in return, and the promise he made to Rey, to himself, is rising up to the top of his chest, colliding with the last mouthful of scone and making it painful to swallow down. The gulp might be actually audible.

Rey knows what he’s thinking: he’s pretty sure she doesn’t actually read minds, but she’s sure good with his – even from the ground, still scratching BB’s ears, she turns up to laser her eyes into his. “Hi, Poe,” she says, without breaking Finn’s gaze.

“Hey, Rey.” He turns the grin on her, and Finn can’t help but miss it a little. “BB saw you two coming and had to come say hello.” He gives her a fake-petulant look. “Sometimes I think she likes you more than she likes me.”

“Well, of course she does,” Rey croons, scrunching her hand around in BB’s fur. “Who has the best taste? You have the best taste!”

“Hey!” Finn protests. “She doesn’t like _me_ at all” –

“Don’t be silly,” Rey retorts, still focused on the dog. “BB loves you, too, doesn’t she? Oh yes she does! Oh yes she does!”

“Course she does,” is Poe’s contribution, and when Finn turns to look back at him those eyes are _scorching_. “Who wouldn’t?”

And the brief distraction of the dog is forgotten in the haze of Finn’s brain with Poe’s gaze locked onto him; the only thing that’s clear is that knowledge that _the ball’s in your court; make a move_ –

Then Rey stands up and reaches out for Poe’s hand – Finn entertains an irrational moment of dumbfounded betrayal, but she’s just prying the leash from his fingers. “Hey, Dameron,” she says, “I need some quality time with your dog. Why don’t you let me finish walking her, and I’m sure you two can find some way to occupy yourselves?” To her credit, she does not shoot Finn a suggestive glance, but the innuendo is so heavily implied that Poe would have to put in some actual _effort_ to miss it. But Rey doesn’t linger, and the moment is allowed to pass. “I’ll just bring her back to our place and we can all meet there, yeah?”

It’s one of the thinnest excuses Finn’s ever heard, but he loves Rey dearly in that moment. He turns to Poe, who has to realize how much Rey is reaching, but he just nods slowly. “Sure,” he agrees, “why not?”

“Perfect.” Rey gives BB one last scratch on the ear and turns around. “Come on, girl,” she coaxes, making a clicking noise with her tongue. She casts a glance over her shoulder at Finn, eyebrows raised, and he mouths _thank you_ as she walks off.

And then she’s gone and it’s just Poe and Finn, standing there with their eyes fused together, and Finn knows it’s his job to speak first. “Poe,” he starts, but his throat dries completely up before he can get anything else out.

“Yeah?” Poe’s mouth turns up a little at the corners, lower lip tucked slightly in under his teeth. It’s very distracting.

The words are in Finn’s throat, but they feel stuck. He didn’t have time to rehearse this or anything, and nothing about this moment is natural. What’s he supposed to say, anyway? _I like you, and I know you like me? Thanks for the date? Please go out with me?_ They’re all stupid, and everything is stupid, and his tongue is clumsy, and Poe is staring at him with expectant eyes too big and too beautiful to be legal –

“Screw it,” is what finally comes out, and he steps forward, cups a hand at the back of Poe’s neck, and leans over to press his lips against Poe’s.

He keeps the kiss chaste and light at first, holding Poe loosely in case he wants to pull away, in case he and Rey have been drastically misreading all of the signs, but Poe does the exact opposite. His lips part against Finn’s; he lets out a sigh into Finn’s mouth, and his arms wind around Finn’s shoulders, clutching at his back as he pulls the embrace tighter.

Finn doesn’t know how long they spend kissing, but what could be a few blissful years later, he realizes that they’re making out on a sidewalk and although it’s not like he minds, he doesn’t _really_ want his life to look like a bad romance movie. “Poe,” he murmurs, breaking away.

“Yeah?” Poe’s lips and hair look even better than usual post-kiss, and Finn would like to jump him again, but he reminds himself sternly: _sidewalk_.

“Do you want to – um – come back to my place?”

Poe’s eyes are soft, pupils dilated; he lifts a hand and brushes his thumb softly across Finn’s lower lip; warm tingles follow its trajectory and Finn restrains a sigh. “I’d love to.”

The walk back is subdued, mostly because Finn is reining himself in as hard as he can. He almost loses it when Poe reaches out and takes his hand, starts stroking his thumb over his knuckles, but he manages to hold himself together until he can fumble for his key, finally get the lock open on the third try –

Poe is on him again as soon as the door shuts behind them, lips starting out on Finn’s and then moving down across his cheek, to his ear, then the soft part just beneath it. Finn steers them towards his bedroom, Poe kissing his neck the whole while, causing his hand to flail and completely miss the doorknob – finally he gets it open and then shut behind them; the bed isn’t too far away –

He moans, legs going weak as Poe’s mouth hits a particularly sensitive spot; they both sink down onto the bed, and Poe rolls him onto his back, still pressing open-mouthed kisses along his neck. Finn returns the favor now, lips latching onto Poe’s ear and moving down; hands sliding under his shirt, fisting in the hem and dragging it upward –

They have to break apart so Finn can get Poe’s shirt over his head, and they’ve both probably known where this is going since the first kiss, but Finn stops for a second with his hands on Poe’s shoulders so he can ask, “Is this okay with you? Are we going too fast?”

Poe’s kiss-swollen lips turn up in his bone-melting grin; his eyes gleam. “Buddy,” he says, “the amount of time I’ve been waiting for this, _light speed_ wouldn’t be fast enough.”

Finn dimly wonders if he should feel guilty for that, but thought is really the farthest thing from his mind right now. “Oh, good,” he says instead, and pulls Poe down to fuse their mouths together again.

* * *

Eventually, finally, they’re both spent: they sprawl out, bodies warm and slick with sweat and tumbled across one another. Poe’s hands have found one of Finn’s, but instead of holding it he’s playing with his fingers, and Finn’s careful not even to let his hand twitch for fear Poe will stop doing it. Sex is great – sex is mind-blowing, earth-shaking, all those clichés born of _finally_ – but this casual warm intimacy is what he really wants with Poe.

His free hand slides its way up over Poe’s shoulder and into his hair; he works his fingers through tousled curls and hears Poe sigh, long and deep.

“Let’s keep doing this,” he murmurs.

“Yeah?” Finn realizes maybe they should have tried the relationship talk before jumping straight into the sex part, but the relief of having _finally_ done this is like the release of a long-drawn-out arrow: the potential had built up so much that when it was let loose, the speed and power was unstoppable. And anyway, he supposes it’s his own damn fault for kissing instead of talking.

But Poe says, “Yeah,” and Finn decides no harm, no foul.

“Good.” He keeps stroking Poe’s hair, and Poe makes a quiet sound of contentment. “Because I like you a lot.”

“Me too,” Poe responds. His fingers are still messing with Finn’s, and it’s wonderful, and Finn would like it very much if he never stopped. “I’ve been wanting this for ages.’

“Yeah.” Finn laughs. “Me too, but I never caught on – it was Rey who told me to make a move already.”

“Rey, hmm?” The entrance of her name into the conversation breaks something, that feeling of aloneness, the suspension in time. Finn starts remembering that she’s likely home by now, that she was planning to meet them here; he can tell that Poe is remembering that she has his dog. He doesn’t say any of that, but it’s there now; the languid warmth of their bodies starts to fade away, reality coming back. “I’ll have to thank her for that,” is all that Poe says aloud.

“Yeah.” Finn’s fingers are still in Poe’s hair; he drags them along Poe’s scalp once more and then reluctantly extricates them. “We should probably get up, though.”

“I know.” Poe doesn’t move.

“I don’t want to either,” Finn coaxes, “but Rey, and” –

“And BB. I know.” Poe finally lets go of Finn’s hand and drags himself upward with a long-suffering sigh. “Okay. Getting up.”

When they’re both standing up and facing each other, there’s a moment when they both want to abandon the whole getting-dressed idea and seize each other again – Finn sees it in Poe’s eyes, and he sure as hell feels it himself. But finally, with considerable effort, he manages to turn away and pull his clothes on.

Poe tangles his fingers into Finn’s again as he opens the door, and they exit the room in what would be a walk of shame if not for the warm afterglow still filling up Finn’s body. It helps to mitigate the embarrassment when they run into Rey: sprawled on the couch with her notes for class, BB cuddled into her side, and a decidedly self-satisfied grin on her face.

“Well, hello again, boys,” she teases. “I thought it’d be longer before I saw you again.”

Finn rolls his eyes at her, but he’s still a little too mellow inside to be properly irritated, and after she played wingwoman like she did, he can’t exactly resent her, can he? He shrugs instead. “What can we say? We just missed you.”

“He missed you,” Poe corrects. “I just wanted to see my dog again.” He releases Finn’s hand to go pet BB, who seems a bit put out at him.

“Not your dog anymore,” says Rey offhandedly. “I’m officially stealing her from you. She’s my dog now.”

Poe rubs BB’s sides; she seems to have forgiven him. “I don’t think you’ll need to,” he replies, unruffled. “I think she and I will be spending a little more time over here from now on.”

“You will, will you?” She’s allegedly talking to Poe, but her grinning face is trained directly on Finn, so sunny now that he – who needed little provocation in the first place – can’t help but return it.

“Yeah,” he answers for Poe. “I think he will.”

* * *

Finn walks Poe to the door, to see him out; Rey, like the good roommate that she is, does not follow them. They hug goodbye, as they have been doing the past few dates (dates, that’s what they were, Finn now knows that for certain), and then Poe pulls back just slightly and braces his hands on Finn’s shoulders. Finn’s hands slide to Poe’s hips, and Poe sways forward into him, head tilting just the slightest bit back and smile turning up to Finn’s like he’s the sun and Poe is a flower. And it’s incredible enough to see that look directed at him, so much that Finn would probably be spellbound if not for the fact that all he has to do is incline his head just the tiniest bit for them to melt together into a long, boneless kiss.

Rey pounces on Finn when he comes back into the living room from saying goodbye to Poe. “So?” she presses.

“So what?” he sasses, but he can’t stop grinning.

“You know what,” Rey retorts. “Details!”

“You want details, huh?” Payback time, then. “Well, let’s see. He’s very athletic, a lot more flexible than you’d think a driver would be,” Finn pauses for a moment to savor good memories, “and he can do this thing with his” –

“Finn!” She swats him on the arm, her face somehow horrified, amused, disgusted, and indignant all at the same time. It’s kind of impressive, actually. “I got enough information about _those_ details just from listening to you – you’re really loud in bed, by the way; don’t know if you knew that” –

“Good to know.” Unrepentant, Finn rubs his arm where she hit him. “Well, what kind of details did you want?”

“You know, the usual. What did you say, what did he say, are you two official now” –

“Official.” Finn pauses to ponder the word. “I mean, what’s in a name, really” –

Rey sighs. “Whatever, Finn.” She grins at him though. “Well, I’m happy for you. Now you can finally stop pining.”

“I was not” –

But she just laughs, and he can’t help laughing too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had all these thoughts and plans about who they were in modern 'verse, and you will see more of those in the next chapter if you take a chance on it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was meant as a bit of a prequel, to show how we wound up where we did last chapter (I might have restructured it, had I ended up actually writing the story, but now you get things as I initially wrote them). I had all these thoughts and headcanons about where the characters might be in modern life, based kind of on where they were in the movie. Also, this was written after The Force Awakens but before any of the others, so is only inspired by that one.
> 
> Again, be warned: this chapter is totally incomplete. It starts out cohesive, then it starts picking up what I call "capslock placeholders" (when I don't know how to phrase something or don't know what to fill in, I'll write a general description in all caps and fill it in later. I didn't even have the energy to fill those in, so you get them.) - and then devolves entirely into outline-y notes that just stop. I don't know if there was ever going to be any plot, but there certainly isn't any here.
> 
> Please be kind in the comments, if you should happen to leave any - and also forgive my writing from four years ago. Again, I won't be picking this story back up, so I'm not looking for even constructive feedback.

There are a lot of things Finn might have expected to see after clocking out and stumbling out the door of the restaurant, flexing his aching shoulders. One of them, however, is not a grown man running around out front, bent practically double, chanting, “BB! BB!”

Awkwardly, Finn clears his throat. “Uh, hi.”

The man jumps, straightens up, and whacks his head on the side of the bike rack. “Ow!” He hisses under his breath, and whirls around to meet Finn’s eyes – which, admittedly, probably takes some courage. In the same situation, Finn would have turned and run.

This guy, however, just ducks his head and lets out a sheepish laugh. “Hey,” he says, his cheeks flushing. Finn notices that above them his eyes are dark and piercing, brown curls falling into his face, which is very nicely shaped, by the way –

Oh _no_. Finn looks down at himself: stained and soggy work uniform from dishwashing; hair probably crazy from the steam; exhausted after an eight-hour shift. The last thing he needs right now is to get into a conversation with a cute man.

But apparently his mouth hasn’t gotten that memo, because he hears himself saying, “Uh, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” The guy sighs. “Well, I mean, not really – I was just looking for my dog.” Finn feels like there are probably better places to look for your lost dog than in front of the restaurant where he happens to work, especially so you don’t end up dazzling him on accident with your clearly incidental good looks while he is so much the opposite. But before he can figure out how to politely articulate any of this, the man continues. “I had her tied out here while I grabbed a sandwich. But my order took awhile, and when I came out here” – He gestures at the empty bike rack, which has a piece of red cord tied to it.

“Oh no!” Sympathy is a very good distractor from the man’s face. Finn goes over to the rack and starts to fumble at the cord. “Do you think she could have broken it?”

“Nah,” the man shakes his head. “It’s strong stuff, and new. Someone cut her loose, I guess as a joke or something, and she must have run off. She’d have come if she were anywhere around here.” His face turns concerned. “I hope no one stole her.”

Finn gets the cord untied and pulls it off, examining the end. The man’s right – it’s too cleanly-cut to have broken. “Huh,” he says. “Who would do something like that?”

The guy shrugs. “Dunno. You got that off fast, though.”

He sounds impressed, and Finn’s head somehow gets so full so fast that he forgets how to not be stupid. “I’m pretty good with my hands,” he says, and regrets the words as soon as they’re out. What is he thinking? For one thing, no he’s _not_ ; Rey has in fact banned him from ever trying to fix anything in the house ever again; and second, why did he phrase it like that? This is not the time or place to be flirting! Clamping his mouth shut, he hands the cord over to his companion, trying not to let their fingers brush and thanking whatever god might be out there that his skin is too dark to show his blush.

The guy just takes the cord, though. “Thanks,” he says, looks around. “I guess I better go look for her now. Hopefully she’s around.”

Again, Finn’s mouth acts without his consent. “Do you want any help?” he blurts, despite the fact that he’s still in his work clothes, probably doesn’t smell that great, and promised to cook Rey dinner. And still doesn’t know this guy’s name.

The same thing – or, one of the things – seems to have occurred to him. “That’d be great!” he says energetically, before backing off. “Wait, what’s your name? I’m Poe. Poe Dameron.”

“Finn,” says Finn, hoping Poe won’t bring up the lack of a last name. He has one, of course, but it’s not like it’s something he really identifies with or prefers to share.

“Good to meet you, Finn,” says Poe, shaking his hand. “If at an odd time.”

“Good to meet you, too, Poe,” Finn manages not to stammer. Poe’s hand feels good in his: a little smaller, warm, callused, and _stoppit stoppit stoppit_ –

While Finn is trying to reconcile the fact that he just offered to help a cute stranger find his dog, Poe seems to take pity on him. “You know, I’m sure she’s around here somewhere. I’ll probably find her. If you’d just keep an eye out for me” –

“Of course!” Yes, that was a normal sound. Finn congratulates himself. “What’s she look like?”

Poe pulls a phone out of his pocket, thumbs around on it for a moment, and then holds it out to Finn. There’s a picture of a small dog, white and light brown, with perky ears and a face that seems to be grinning. But Finn only takes a moment to take in the dog, because the picture is a selfie and Poe’s face, openmouthed and exuberant, is right next to the dog’s, eyes flicked down where he must be looking at the screen of the phone –

“She looks like that,” Poe says, just in time that Finn doesn’t start drooling. “Answers to BB. I’d love it if you’d” –

“Yeah!” Finn blurts, too loud, too fast, before he totally falls apart. “I’ll keep an eye out for her. I’ll let you know if I see her!”

“Thanks,” Poe starts, a little puzzled-sounding, but at this point, Finn is way too frazzled. Tossing a wave over his shoulder, he turns around and starts to jog home.

Halfway there, he realizes he didn’t get Poe’s number.

* * *

Rey’s not home yet when he gets to their apartment, which is kind of a relief. Having a degree in history (emphasis on authoritarian states) might sound cool, but it doesn’t do much to get you a real job, especially when you only got the scholarships for your undergrad. And true, Rey’s a few years younger than he is and hasn’t gotten this far yet, but it’s not like it helps with self-esteem when you get home from your dishwashing job and your engineering-and-martial-arts-prodigy roommate is lounging easily in an uncomfortable-looking position while sketching detailed diagrams of things you can’t even imagine understanding.

He hops in the shower, cursing himself for not getting Poe’s number as he scrubs his fingers through his hair. But then, maybe this is a good thing, what with the nervous wreck he seemed to be turning into after one single meaningless meeting –

He takes an extra-long shower, which means that Rey’s home when he gets out. He walks into the living room, hair still damp but in clean clothes, and finds that she’s not alone.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” he says.

“What?” Rey looks up from the dog who has joined her on the couch and whose head she is currently stroking. “She followed me home. What was I supposed to do, chase her away?”

“No, it just” – Finn groans, long and low. Drops his head into his hands for a moment, and then looks up, feeling heat rise into his cheeks again. “I met her owner earlier.”

“You did?” He could swear that for a second Rey looks _disappointed_. She’s clearly fallen in love. “Was she with him?”

“No, he was looking for her – he showed me a picture” – Finn breaks off again, hands twisting in and out of one another. “I ran into him outside the restaurant” –

Rey looks up from where the dog is happily curled up against her, her eyes sharpening when they hit his face. “Why do you look so flustered?” She squints; looks closer. “You’re blushing! Why are you blushing?”

“No I’m not!” Finn tries to urge the heat in his cheeks down. Of course it doesn’t work, and he finally throws his hands over them, giving himself away completely to Rey. “Okay, fine. He was really cute, okay?”

If Rey was paying attention before, she’s even more focused now. “You met a cute guy, who has a cute dog?” Her eyes are bright, excited. “Did you get his number?”

Finn sighs, drops his head.

“Finn!” she scolds him. “Come on! The guy was cute, _and_ he had lost his dog, and you _still_ didn’t get his number?”

“I panicked, okay?” he protests. “I had just gotten off work, and I was all gross, and he was really attractive, and – isn’t the number on the dog’s collar anyway?”

“No.” She rolls her eyes. “Apparently the guy has more in looks than in brains.”

Finn shrugs and steps forward to pet the dog, but she shies away from him and closer to Rey. He scowls, and she laughs, then stands up. “Well, we’ve gotta figure out his number somehow. You think he’d be in the phone book?”

He gives her a look. “No one uses home phones anymore, Rey.”

“Fine. Did you get his name, at least?” She’s digging around in her backpack and pulling out her tablet. “We can Google him; maybe get his work profile or something” –

“His name’s Poe,” he says, savors the name in his mouth. “Poe Dameron. I’m not sure how to spell it.”

She’s already typing. “Poe Dameron,” she mutters. “No way!” Her face brightens up and she turns the screen to face Finn. “This him?”

Finn swallows involuntarily. It is indeed Poe, dressed in a red racing jacket, hair tousled, with a helmet tucked under his arm. His face is determined, but his eyes seem to be sparkling even through the screen –

“Yeah,” he says. “He’s” –

“A race car driver?” Rey is staring. “Damn. Here’s his contact info, though – no phone number, but you can email him.” She opens a new tab and indicates for Finn to sign into his account. “Send him a message. Let’s see if we can get this dog an owner and you” – She pokes a finger meaningfully at him – “a date.”

Poe’s response to his email is really fast – too fast. Finn sends his email, turns away from the screen to talk to Rey for a moment, and maybe a minute has passed before the reply comes. _Hey, Finn! Thanks so much!!! Want to meet me somewhere, or should I come to your place?_

“Quite the enthusiastic guy,” Rey remarks dryly, pointing at the three exclamation points. “Though I guess if it’s about his dog, it makes sense.”

Well, Finn’s been on his feet for an eight-hour shift as it is. “Mind if he comes here?” he asks her. “I don’t really want to move if I don’t have to, and it looks like he has a car.”

She snorts, but grins at him. “No problem. Not like I mind spending any more time with this dog.”

* * *

Poe shows up at their place: again, really quickly. Finn totally wasn’t watching the window; he was just hanging out on the couch because it’s more comfortable. Which would be a little more convincing if he didn’t keep glancing out the window, if Rey didn’t keep sending him these little smirks that reveal she knows exactly what he’s thinking. But a car pulls up by the curb – a pretty normal one; Finn doesn’t know what he was expecting – and Poe steps out, slams the door, and glances around.

Finn opens the front door, waves out. “Hey, Poe!” he shouts.

“Buddy!” Poe looks up at him and beams, jogs up the path towards the door. “Thanks so much! I can’t believe you found her!”

“Well, actually” – Finn starts, but doesn’t need to finish, because Rey sidles up next to him holding the dog curled up against her chest. He flicks her a side-eye, but she ignores him. “This dog,” she informs Poe, “is the greatest creature in the universe.”

Poe’s face changes for a fraction of a second – but not very long. “Isn’t she just?” he says. “Hi, BB. I missed you!”

Rey deposits her into his arms, and he hugs her tightly, cooing at her, and the sight is too adorable for Finn to handle. But before he can figure out how to react, Poe sets BB down and catches him up in a tight hug. “Thank you.”

Finn barely has enough time to lift his arms and put them around Poe in turn before Poe lets him go. As Finn catches his breath (not that he minded the hug or anything), Poe turns around to hug Rey as well, but she holds up her hands and steps back. Rey has a hard limit about being touched by people she doesn’t know well – it earned Finn a few bruises when they first met. But Poe backs off, giving her a nod instead. “Thank you, too. How did you find her?”

The question is directed at both of them, but Rey is the one who answers. “More like she found me,” she says. “She just attached herself to me and followed me home, and then Finn told me you were looking for her.” She pauses. “I’m Rey, by the way.”

“Poe,” Poe says. “Poe Dameron.”

“I know.” She shoots Finn a glance; he tries to glare subtly. “We had to look you up online. Do you really drive a RACE CAR THING?”

“Yeah!” he says. Brushes a hand through his hair in a bashful way. “You looked me up online? I’m flattered.”

“Had to.” Rey jerks a thumb at Finn. “This one remembered your name, but neglected to get your number.”

“Oh!” Poe turns to face Finn full-on. “I suppose that’s something we should fix. That is” – Is he blushing? – “if you want it.”

It takes Finn a moment to realize what’s going on, and then he scrambles for his phone. “Yeah,” he says, “that’d be great! I mean, uh” – he tries to tone it down. “Sure, here.” He hands Poe the phone and Poe taps his number into it. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Poe says. He looks around for a moment. “I wish I had a reward or something to offer you” –

“Oh, you don’t need to” –

“Would you two like tickets to my next race?” Poe interrupts. “I mean, unless that seems horribly narcissistic or something” – He blushes and scrubs his hand through his hair again. “But you could come and watch, and afterwards I could give you a tour of my garage (WHATEVER THE EQUIVALENT IS) or something” –

“That sounds awesome!” Finn blurts. To be honest, it doesn’t, but Rey’s eyes are lighting up at the mention of the garage tour, and he’d like a chance to see Poe again. “We’d – yeah, that would be great.”

“Awesome,” Poe says. “So, next weekend then?”

“Hey,” Rey cuts in, “I’ve got some studying to do, so I’m going to let you two work out the details, all right? Finn can fill me in.” She kneels down to pet the dog’s head one last time. “Bye, BB,” she croons, laughs when the dog licks her face, and backs out of the doorway to disappear into her bedroom.

Finn knows she was probably doing this for his benefit, but now that it’s just him and Poe he feels suddenly awkward again. For want of something to say, he manages, “I think my roommate’s in love with your dog.”

Poe laughs. “Ah, everyone is. Wait. Roommate?”

 _Oh_. It hits Finn like a ton of bricks and he starts babbling in an attempt to explain. “Yeah, she’s my roommate, we’re just” –

“So she’s not your girlfriend?”

Poe is bolder than Finn, apparently. “No,” he says emphatically, “ _no_ nono. We just – we just share the apartment; she’s in school and I just finished, so – yeah. We’re not, we don’t” –

“Gotcha,” Poe interrupts mercifully. “Well, you’re both absolutely still invited, considering you both helped find BB and get her back to me. The race is next weekend. Could I have your number, too, and I can text you more details?”

Finn has to admit that this was a pretty smooth method of exchanging numbers, and he’s glad it was up to Poe to do it. Makes him think he might not be completely off track as it is.

* * *

NOTES:

He comes to them; all is well, and he offers them tickets to his next race because Rey is a massive nerd, and they accept, and then he offers them a tour through his garage afterwards so Rey can nerd out over the mechanics, and then Finn asks if he can drive stick, and Poe says, “I can drive anything” because Rey won’t let Finn drive her car because he doesn’t know how to drive stick, and Poe offers to teach him

The REASON Rey doesn’t teach him is that she says she’s “too busy” but actually the car belonged to her old mentor who’s died now (Han Solo), and she’s very attached to it, so secretly she doesn’t actually want him to drive it so she just doesn’t teach him to drive stick

Like, he wouldn’t drive it if she really didn’t want him to, but now the stick thing has become a joke between them

And when she learns that Poe’s teaching Finn to drive stick she makes ENDLESS jokes – ALL the sex jokes

ALSO they tour Poe’s garage or whatever it is after the race, and Leia is the sponsor for his team, and she got involved in it through Han Solo (mechanic), who again, Rey’s old mentor who died, so she and Leia bond and then it turns out Leia’s Luke’s sister and Rey is distracted

Also Poe gives Finn his racing jacket at some point

**Author's Note:**

> So I had all these thoughts and plans about who they were in modern 'verse, and you will see more of those in the next chapter if you take a chance on it!


End file.
